Interview with Tom Van Steenbergen
Freeride: We spoke to Cam Zink when the video edits went online at X Games Real. He was sure you were going to win. Were you that sure?
Tom Van Steenbergen: I knew that I had a very good chance. Because I was able to realise everything I had planned in the edit. Nevertheless, when a jury is judging you can never be sure.
Freeride: You got the gold medal. That's a big number, isn't it?
Tom Van Steenbergen: Absolutely, the X Games are a really big deal, especially here in North America. I would even say that the X Games gold medal is the highlight of my career alongside my best trick award at Rampage 2021.
Freeride: Your competition was strong: Matt MacDuff, Dylan Stark, Remy Morton and Kade Edwards. Who did you have the most respect for?
Tom Van Steenbergen: For a long time, I only knew that Matt was there. I only heard about the others later. But I knew from Matt alone that he had what it takes to go for gold. He's creative, talented and had a good team around him. I didn't waste too much thought on the others. I concentrated on my project, supported by my cameraman Calvin.
Procedure of the X-Games
Freeride: How does it work? You get a call from the X-Games officials, call your film maker and make a plan?
Tom Van Steenbergen: Something like that. I was pretty stoked and could hardly believe it. I was out with filmmaker Calvin anyway when I got the call. I immediately sat down and drew stunt ideas and thought about tricks that I could combine with the stunts. I then worked with Calvin to find suitable songs. By the end of the day, we had a battle plan.
Freeride: So the brief was simply to send in a 90-second clip at a certain time?
Tom Van Steenbergen: Almost. We were also told the criteria on which the video would be judged. 1. progression of riding. 2. progression of filmmaking. 3. editing
Freeride: How important is the right song?
Tom Van Steenbergen: Very important. We had an ideal song - Calvin found it on some playlist. When we wanted to licence it, it took forever and in the end we didn't hear anything. So we had to change the song at the last minute. Of course, the cut didn't fit and Calvin had to do it again.
Elaborate and expensive, but great format
Freeride: Each of the X-Games videos was elaborately staged. How many people were involved and how expensive is such a project?
Tom Van Steenbergen: Very expensive! Have a look at Remy's edit, he created a stunt line, more expensive than building a house. I myself spent two weeks alone in the forest to build it. We were three people and a few helpers. You need heavy equipment, materials and a construction team. I didn't write down the costs. That's better! Because you end up paying for it. And that's not even counting the time you've invested.
Freeride: But the X Games organisers pay each participating team 9000 US dollars.
Tom Van Steenbergen: With 9000 dollars, you can't create a video project worthy of sending in. I was lucky enough to be able to borrow a lot of machines for free. Nevertheless, I spent a lot more than the 9000 dollars.
Freeride: Wouldn't it be fairer if the X Games made 12,000 US dollars available and everyone had to stick to this budget? For more equal opportunities.
Tom Van Steenbergen: The approach may seem good at first glance. The budget would then have less influence on the success. But in the end, many people involved in the project would not get any money. That's an aspect that I don't like at all.
Freeride: It seems to be a lucrative business for the X Games. They give you a bit of money, you put in a lot and provide videos yourself, which they in turn play out to generate a huge reach.
Tom Van Steenbergen: Haha, yes, you can see it like that. I'm still proud to have been part of it. I still think a video competition like this is the best format for judging freeriding. An X Games medal is a great thing. But I probably wouldn't do it again. It's like you say: you put your money where your mouth is.
Freeride: Andreu Lacondeguy was also one of the chosen candidates for X Games Real MTB. But according to rumours, he turned it down, arguing that 9,000 dollars was too little.
Tom Van Steenbergen: I don't know. I heard that he cancelled at short notice due to an injury.
Everything about the videos of Tom Van Steenbergen
Freeride: Do you know who decides who gets invited?
Tom Van Steenbergen: No, it's probably about selecting drivers from different nations with a wide range. But I don't know the exact criteria.
Freeride: Back to the videos. Did you riders show each other the videos beforehand?
Tom Van Steenbergen: I saw Matt's video and he saw mine. I was impressed by his production and knew that it had what it takes to win the competition.
Freeride: What are your personal top 3 - excluding your video?
Tom Van Steenbergen: Phew, probably the edits by Matt MacDuff, Dylan Stark and Kade Edwards. But I don't want to commit myself to a ranking, let others do that (laughs). Remy's video also impressed me, the XXL course combined with his laid-back style was impressive to see. Kade surprised me, I didn't think he would be riding slopestyle in the video.
Freeride: What was the biggest challenge during your video shoot?
Tom Van Steenbergen: It was a combination of time pressure, capricious weather conditions and the need to do the stunts the way I had planned them. In between, I flew to the Rampage to build and launch there. It was a hectic few weeks.
About the toughest stunt
Freeride: The sickest stunt in the video was probably a cash roll drop, or what do you call your final stunt in the video?
Tom Van Steenbergen: I call the trick a Cork 720 drop. But call it whatever you want.
Freeride: You said it worked on the first try. That's crazy!
Tom Van Steenbergen: It's not a trick that you can try a dozen times on dirt without hurting yourself. I practised it with Brett Rheeder. Brett did a drop into an airbag on his terrain. I repeated it so often that I had completely automated it and went to the stunt in the forest with a broad chest. We had built the drop especially for the video project.
Freeride: What was the most difficult trick apart from this stunt?
Tom Van Steenbergen: The Superman drop. It looks much easier than it is. I hardly had a chance to correct it. You just fall downwards.
Freeride: Probably your most creative stunt: the Bonerlog-Stoppie into Backflip.
Tom Van Steenbergen: That thing was sketchy! I also rebuilt the stunt to practise it in an airbag first. The boner rose 50 degrees into the sky, was seven metres long with a kick at the end so that I could initiate the backflip. Even when I jumped into the airbag, I found it difficult to pull off the stunt with determination. The timing was the biggest challenge. Every time it went wrong, I sailed through the air completely out of control. When I attempted the stunt in a sharp attempt on dirt, my pulse was correspondingly high. In the video you can also see an attempt that goes wrong - bad!
The serious injury to Tom Van Steenbergen
Freeride: Never-before-seen tricks, world premieres. How do you shake them out of your sleeve?
Tom Van Steenbergen: I had a lot of time beforehand, after all I was injured for a long time after my crash at the 2021 Rampage. Believe me, I had time to think about things like that. A lot of time! (Editor's note: Tom had broken his left and right hip socket several times, as well as a fractured femur and fractures in the lower vertebrae. He tore a ligament in his shoulder, which was already damaged).
Freeride: Others develop mental blocks after such injuries, but apparently not you.
Tom Van Steenbergen: From the outside, it might look as if I've simply put the worst crash of my life behind me. As if I was now "back on air" as if nothing had happened. But of course it wasn't like that.
Freeride: But?
Tom Van Steenbergen: I was a wreck, mentally and physically. I needed a goal. That was the most important thing of all. I needed a goal to give me the motivation to put my energy into rehab to get physically fit again. My mind had fallen into a hole, it was almost a depression. Fortunately, I had the right people around me. Today I can say that the fall was the worst and at the same time the best thing that happened to me. My attitude to life is now completely different to before, much better.
I turned the worst fall of my life into the best thing that could have happened to me. My mindset is now different, better.
Freeride: Better than before? How is that noticeable?
Tom Van Steenbergen: I'm mentally stronger, I can feel that. I pay attention to my gut feeling now. A skill that I had to learn. Of course, the rational component should not be missing. I now weigh up risks carefully. If it's not worth it, I don't do it. And if some voice inside me says today is not your day, then I cancel. No matter how great the pressure to perform is. From now on, my health takes centre stage.
That wasn't the case in the past. I thought I had to go through with it now because there was so much involved. Whether it was deadlines for video projects, filmmakers or photographers who had travelled especially for me, or because my ego told me to. According to the motto: "Pull through, you have to deliver now." I analysed falls from the past and realised that it was usually things like this that messed everything up. I ignored my gut feeling - that no longer happens to me today.
Freeride: A good mindset for the Red Bull Rampage 2024.
Tom Van Steenbergen: I think so too. I have a plan and I want to realise it. But before that, I want to realise another video project. As you can see, time is pressing once again.
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Comments on Tom's video
When I saw Tom's edit, I knew he was going for gold. Because the 90-second clip contains several world premieres: Stoppie backflip, Superman drop, 28-metre Superman, flat drop 720! It's only 90 seconds, so: all killer, no filler! A video full of hammers... and Tom threw the hammers like a pissed-off construction worker! - Cam Zink, Rampage winner 2023
There's no doubt that these two have won. They deserve gold: Tom and filmer Calvin. - Darren Berrecloth, big mountain legend
My favourite scene: Tom's world-first, the Cork 7 drop at the end of his video. But I was also impressed by Matt MacDuff. What was that crazy set-up, please? These two were my favourites. - Danny MacAskill, video star
I love that nosy backflip on the Boner Log! Tom's video was mindblowing! The amount of banger moves he showed in that short clip was just plain crazy. Everyone was killing it on X Games Real, but I have to admit I only watched Tom's edit several times. A real banger baller. - Tomas Lemoine, slopestyle pro
Man! What a crazy video. I liked the different locations of Tom's edit and of course the banger moves. - Kriss Kyle, BMX and MTB pro
About Tom Van Steenbergen
Tom was born in the Netherlands and started BMX racing with his brother at the age of eleven. In his teenage years, the Van Steenbergens emigrated to British Columbia. Tom switched to mountain biking and took part in dirt and slopestyle competitions. Since his Rampage run in 2014 at the latest, he has been one of the best-known big mountain riders on the scene.
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Laurin Lehner
Editor
